All Work No Play

Explore effective strategies to improve your mental health, and the health of your colleagues and employees, with this engaging and practical book

All Work No Play: A Surprising Guide to Feeling More Mindful, Grateful and Cheerful is a practical and rewarding handbook for reconnecting with joy and happiness daily. The book shares strategies for play-based mindfulness, empathy, and gratitude exercises that will help readers rediscover their inner child; promote good mental health; build and foster more meaningful connections with others; and help combat loneliness and deep-rooted toxic behaviors and thoughts.

You’ll learn to:

• Recognize and become self-aware of thoughts blocking your way to healthy relationships and attitudes
• Prioritize mental wellbeing in your daily life and put an end to burnout and fatigue
• Use visual tools and self-assessment forms to guide you through exercises that will increase your happiness, focus, and productivity

Perfect for anyone who hopes to improve their ability to take joy and happiness from their daily routines, All Work No Play is also ideal for businesses who wish to improve the health and wellbeing of their employees and colleagues.

About the author ix

How to use this book xi

Introduction xiii

Part I PLAYING the GAME of LIFE 1

1 What is play? 3

2 How play forms part of our life 13

3 Adults’ play 23

4 Play and our mental health 35

5 The birth of play-based mindfulness 47

Part II The PROOF behind PLAY 65

6 Our brain during play 67

7 The power of play 81

Part III The BENEFITS of PLAY 91

8 Less work, more play 93

9 Play for individuals, couples and families 97

10 Play in the classroom 105

11 Team players 113

12 Play in the workplace and beyond 121

Part IV PLAY in ACTION 127

13 The play-based mindfulness toolkit 129

14 PEGG: Play options 135

15 PEGG: Exercise options 143

16 PEGG: Gratitude and Giving options 151

Part V NEVER stop PLAYING 161

17 Being mindful 163

Ten final lessons 171

One final challenge 179

Acknowledgements 181

Index 187

Dale Sidebottom is the creator and founder of Energetic Education and Jugar Life, a movement that helps people bring play back into their lives. A top-rated podcaster and popular TEDx speaker, Dale empowers individuals to move and learn in a fun way.

FIND MORE MOMENTS OF JOY AND HAPPINESS DAILY

Play is a simple way to be present in the moment. When you are truly present, stress and worry melts away, making you more mindful and connected. We all know this is good for us, but when was the last time you actually played?

Packed full of games, exercises, and fully backed by science, All Work No Play shows how to use play-based mindfulness to build healthy relationships, improve your mental health, and live a better life.

Inside, author Dale Sidebottom introduces you to the Daily PEGG, a framework consisting of Play, Exercise, Gratitude and Giving that will ground your mindset and have a profound impact on your life and the lives of those around you. These tools can be used by anyone, as an individual goal, as a family challenge, or to connect teams and workplaces.

No matter where you are in life, All Work No Play is your guide to bringing more fun and fulfillment into your day.